Grand Archives: Grand Archives (Subpop)

The Grand Archives produce music that is different from most artists in their genre. The instruments are same, the lyrics are similar, but the style is what makes them stand out. The vocalists in most bands stand out from the instruments, but Grand Archives almost makes the vocals and instruments at the same level. The vocals also sometimes resemble an echo.

The Seattle band belts out feel good, head bopping music about happiness and hope for the future. The quintet consists of Mat Brooke (Vocals/Guitar), Jeff Montano (bass), Curtis Hall (drums), Ron Lewis (guitar/keyboard), and Thomas Wright (guitar). The boys were strung together from different bands, all that sang about the dark and dreary times and they all thought it was time for a change.

The album opens up with “Torn Blue Foam Couch.” This song introduces all of the instruments and the vocals. It starts off really slow and speeds up as if getting the listener ready for what’s to come. The next song, “Miniature Birds,” begins with whistling that makes you imagine five little birds chirping harmonically in a tree. The feel-good beat of this song never fades, even if the bird image does.

The band breaks out a few more songs before the prologue-esc, “Breezy No Breezy.” The song reminds me of the board game clue; always a mystery, always quirky, and most importantly always fun. It leads way into the second half of the album, which contains a little surprise.

“The Crime Window,” is a song with a completely different feel from the rest of the album, even so, it still fits. It has a ska punk feel to it, similar to a Mighty Mighty Bosstones song. It’s obvious that they put this song on the album just to shake things up a bit, and just to have some fun.

They end the album similar to the way they started it off, with a song called “Orange Juice.” It’s short, sweet, and wraps everything together in one song. The song features a little bit of almost all of the random instruments found throughout the album. If listened to closely enough, you can hear several different styles of music combined into one. That theme seems to be present in every song, and makes for a unique and exciting experience.